Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Austin was a multi-talented sportsman, being "a footballer and table tennis player of note" on top of his cricketing skills.
In March 1978, when an Australian side – minus its WSC players – toured the West Indies, Austin was included in the squad for the first two Tests of the series.
He was originally chosen for the third Test at Bourda Cricket Ground, but the WICB excluded him from the side, along with Desmond Haynes and Deryck Murray because of World series connections.
This led to skipper Clive Lloyd, and the other WSC players in the West Indian side refusing to play in the Test in protest.
[6] Rowe apologised on 20 June 2011, to the cricketing fraternity of Jamaica, the Caribbean and the rest of the world on behalf of that ill-fated team.